Master Chief Assassinates Captain Keyes
by Dairene
Summary: Master Chief Goes Nuts on the Bridge of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn...


Master Chief John-117 slowly moved his hand toward his sidearm. John had always hated the UNSC since the day they kidnapped him from his family and forced him through a brutal and grueling training regimen, not to mention inhumane body modifications that basically constituted horrific torture.

But he'd felt a certain camaraderie and kinship with his fellow Spartans, likewise unwilling recruits in one of the UNSC's darkest black projects. The same could not be said of the weak naval officers, crewmen, and ordinary soldiers of the UNSC. As far as John had been concerned, they were simply cannon fodder. John had already watched more of them die than he could count- what was a few hundred more?

So far, the talk about saving Humanity, of defeating the evil that was the Covenant, had managed to keep John fighting. John had fought- initially against the Insurrection, and mostly against the Covenant- because he'd hoped there was something worth saving of Humanity- that there was some hope of winning.

And now? John increasingly felt that perhaps the human race wasn't worth saving after all. Maybe it really was the will of some unknown deities that humanity perish, that our few millennia of civilization rightfully deserved to be returned to the void. And the Covenant were clearly winning, after all. It was just a matter a time. Perhaps there was some truth to the saying, "If you can't beat them, join them!" John hoped he was remembering the adage right.

These were the thoughts that ran through the young soldier's head as he reached surreptitiously for his sidearm.

Not suspecting anything, Captain Jacob Keyes looked annoyed at the armored soldier still standing there and barked, "What are you waiting for, soldier? Get going!"

In that instant, John made up his mind. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say he snapped. With his super-soldier reflexes, the Magnum was drawn and cocked before anyone else had a chance to register what had happened. Well, perhaps except for Cortana.

The shots fired flew straight and true, brutally peppering Captain Keyes' torso with bullet holes. The man cried out in shock, spasmed, and collapsed to the floor, where he lay motionless in a puddle of his own blood.

Screams of horror exploded around the bridge, with crew members either frozen with shock, preparing to make a run for it, or grabbing for their sidearms.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Cortana screamed in horrified shock at John, but the Spartan gave her no response, turning to gun down more crew members.

One officer managed to get off a shot at Master Chief, but it was ineffective against the Spartan's shields and armor, and he was immediately killed.

"Look! Please! Whatever you're doing, I don't want any part of this! Please, just put me back in the computer!" Cortana pleaded desperately, knowing her life likely hinged in the balance.

"As you wish," John shrugged, plugging Cortana back into the computer.

Realizing this was his chance to contain the damage as much as possible, and knowing the command was almost certainly still in shambles, Cortana took command and directly radioed the ship's Marine detachment.

"Security to the bridge! The Master Chief has gone rampant! Take him down, boys!"

A team of UNSC Marines burst onto the bridge, rifles at the ready, rapidly taking in the scene of carnage before them.

"Get the bastard!" The officer in charge shouted.

Unfortunately, the Marines were no match for a fully-armored Spartan.

Ducking behind cover, Master Chief fired, gunning down two of the Marines, before sliding down the service ladder to the lower bridge.

The Marines fired desperately, but were no match for the Spartan's reflexes and skills, and they certainly didn't have the power armor that John-117 had to protect him.

"Surround him! He can't hide forever!" The Marines surrounded the service ladder, but were unwilling to go down so easily, knowing the bottleneck it represented.

"Neither can we! Covenant are boarding our ship, sir!" A Marine pointed out the obvious.

"Grenades?" Another proposed.

"This is the bridge-"

"We're going to lose the ship anyway!"

Master Chief took the Marines' momentary indecision to pop out of cover and gun down two more Marines before ducking back amid furious return fire.

Grenades clattered into the lower deck, and the Spartan launched himself out of cover. The hail of gunfire was furious, but Master Chief had the armor to take it for a short while, at least, and he moved swiftly, dodging and gunning down the Marines one by one. He moved so fast, beyond the capabilities of normal humans, that the Marines had difficulty targeting him, especially with the risk of hitting each other.

In seconds, the Marines all lay dead or dying, downed by precise, merciless shots.

As he looked down remorselessly at one dying Marine, the prone man whispered, "It- wasn't- supposed- to be like this…"

Master Chief unsheathed his combat knife, slit the man's throat, and hurriedly made his way out of the bridge. It was time to get the hell out of here.

Cortana observed this brutal slaughter with horror from the ship's bridge cameras. "Oh no… no…"

But perhaps she shouldn't have expected Marines to take down a superior and experienced Spartan. Covenant… and a rogue Master Chief… this was a really, really bad day.


End file.
